Cowboys say Romo knew it was fourth down

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on October 6, 2009, 10:55 PM EDT

As it turns out, quarterback Tony Romo might not be as dumb as he looks.

In the wake of the possibility that Romo didn’t know that it was fourth down when it was fourth down in the closing seconds of Sunday’s loss to the Broncos, the Cowboys contend that Romo knew that it was indeed fourth down.

And the team has actually issued a written statement to explain away video evidence suggesting that Romo was under the impression that he had one more play.

“As Tony was walking off the field after the fourth down play, he saw
that the down marker on the Dallas sideline read ‘3.’ As it turned out,the marker was in the process of being changed, sequentially, from the
number ‘4’ to the number ‘1’ for the Broncos ensuing possession,”
according to the statement.

“The marker on the Cowboys side read ‘3’
temporarily. When he saw the ‘3,’ he thought there might have been the
possibility of an error on the down count.”

We’re not 100-percent sure how an official NFL down marker works, but we doubt that the shift from “4” to “1” requires the user of the marker to manually cycle back through “3” and “2”.

Moreover, with all of the cameras that are present during an NFL game, shouldn’t there be images of the down marker showing the “3” that apparently caused Romo to think that he had another crack at tying the game?

Look, regardless of whether the explanation advanced by the Cowboys is the truth, would the Cowboys have admitted that their starting quarterback didn’t know what down it was? If NFL teams learned anything from last year’s admission by Donovan McNabb that he didn’t know that regular-season games could end in a tie, it’s that nothing good comes from telling the truth when it comes to a supposed franchise quarterback not being as bright as he’s paid to be.

48 responses to “Cowboys say Romo knew it was fourth down”

In fact, cycling from 4 to 1 on the NFL down markers does require passing through 3 and 2. There is a slider switch on the side of the down marker — the top position is 1 and the bottom is 4. To pass from 4 to 1, you go up to 3, then to 2, then to 1. This usually happens so quickly, you wouldn’t notice the passing of 3 and 2.
But that’s not necessarily what was happening. The Dallas sideline marker may not have been cycling from 4 to 1. It’s possible it was never changed to 4th down in the first place. I’ve seen that happen numerous times. Because it wasn’t the official down marker, it wouldn’t necessarily get any attention from the officials on the field.
As for camera angles, they may be out there somewhere, but who knows where that footage is now that the game is long over?

Yeah, right. I really believe that team release.
The fact they even had to issue a release means they know Romo thought it was still fourth down.
What a joke. Do they really think we are that stupid? Wait – they gave that spare $60 million, so maybe they do.

We’re not 100-percent sure how an official NFL down marker works, but we doubt that the shift from “4” to “1” requires the user of the marker to manually cycle back through “3” and “2”.
Possibly the dumbest statement I’ve ever read. “I don’t know how something works, but in my lack of knowledge, I can determine that it doesn’t work this way.”
Ridiculous!

Actually Florio, I’ve never seen one myself, but it looks like a sliding switch (kind of like one of those erasers you buy with the sliding switch on it) that has ends on the bottom (1) and top (4). The markers do not appear to have circular “knobs” that would allow flipping from 4 to 1 to 2 to 3.
Not to mention the Cowboys probably DO have an idea of how the things work, moreso than any of us fans/analysts who watch from the stands, not the front row of the sidelines.

“We’re not 100-percent sure how an official NFL down marker works”
But that ain’t gonna keep you from drawing an uninformed conclusion that supports your sensationalistic opinion, is it? There are three levers that change the numbers. You can move them up and down all at once or one at a time. How long have you been watching football, Florio?
“Moreover, with all of the cameras that are present during an NFL game, shouldn’t there be images of the down marker showing the “3” that apparently caused Romo to think that he had another crack at tying the game?”
Probably, but why would you think that all footage would be available for viewing?
“Look, regardless of whether the explanation advanced by the Cowboys is the truth, would the Cowboys have admitted that their starting quarterback didn’t know what down it was?”
See, this is what’s wrong with the media today. You guys cook stuff up in your head and ask questions about it, and you refuse to accept any answer but the answer that you cooked up in your head. I notice that you take a lot of trips. You must get awfully lonely. Have you ever gone to a scrip club when you’re on the road, Florio? Nevermind, I already know the answer and there’s no motivation for you to be truthful about it.
See what I mean? We get it. You think Romo’s a passionless idiot that doesn’t care about anything but celebrity poon and golf. I appreciate the fact that you addressed this at all, though. I think it was kind of retarded to bring it up in the first place, like I said before it’s not like he threw the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack or spiked the ball to stop the clock. He ran the play that was called.

Romo seems like a nice guy, but he really is a freakin’ idiot. Good overall winning % but GREAT choke artist. I’d say the bad outweighs the good. He’s the franchise QB for a franchise full of crack heads and jail birds.

This is an easy debate.. Who can argue or question whether Romo is intelligent or intellectually challenged? The facts are the facts…. Let’s see, the dumbass dumped Jessica Simpson. Let me repeat that. That dumbass dumped Jessica Simpon. Do you think in 3 years when Romo is no longer a starting QB, or possibly a NFL player, he won’t be kicking himself in the ass asking “what in the hell was I thinking?”

BradyGazelle says:
October 6, 2009 11:19 PM
Yeah, right. I really believe that team release.
The fact they even had to issue a release means they know Romo thought it was still fourth down.
What a joke. Do they really think we are that stupid? Wait – they gave that spare $60 million, so maybe they do.
_________
Why SHOULDN’T you believe the team release…after all, you New England MORONS believe that Belichick “misinterpreted” the CRYSTAL CLEAR memo just before the 2007 season regarding sideline videotaping (that despite the fact that the other 31 coaches understood PERFECTLY that to disregard the rule would amount to CHEATING, a fact that Belichick and the Pats were fined for to the tune of the largest fine ever in the history of the NFL)…as well as the fact that you morons who also root for the Red Sox STILL believe that David Ortiz never did PEDs (that despite the fact that his power output dropped off so dramatically this season that anyone could see that he was suffering from steroid withdrawals).
Take off the Patsy goggles for once in your miserable life, Homer.

Cowboys also said they would close out the old stadium with a win against Baltimore and open the new one with a win against NY. Cowboys and their fans say lots of things. Constantly. If only their team was half as good on the field as they are at talking. The only thing that matters is 14 years and counting since the last playoff win.

Jessica Romo was smart enough to sign a $67.5 million dollar contract before anyone even knew if he could play in the league, so she must not be quite as dumb a qb as you make her out to be
For a guy with a 93.3 career passer rating and the CowGirl record (by far) for most 300 yard passing games, Jessica Romo sure takes a lot of crap from you people. Would you rather Drew Bledsoe was still the starter?

Does it really matter if he thought it was 3rd or 4th down? It’s not like he had to throw a hail mary to get to the first down marker or something.
He ran a play that could have been called on either down. It didn’t work. It had nothing to do with what down it was.

On an official downmarker all 3 levers can be moved simultaneously, so the number will be changed from 4 to 1.
However, as a referee I know that these things tend to get stuck occasionally, in which case one has to move the levers individually and try to get the thing working again. So it happens frequently that the downmarker will show something other than 1 or 4 for a second or two.

“Our Bill Nichols caught up with Patrick Crayton at an autograph signing session Tuesday.
The Cowboys explanation as to why Romo appeared confused on the Fox 4 video as to whether or not his incomplete pass came on fourth down? Crayton backs it up.
“You’ve got to realize, after that play, we’re taking our time, waiting to see if a flag is going to be thrown or whatever and they’re changing the down marker to go down,” said Crayton, who was at Gil’s Infield in Duncanville Tuesday afternoon. “I see the same thing, thinking it says third down.
“Sometimes, it happens. You’re thinking maybe they made a mistake. He knew it was over, but you can always ask.”
On Monday, before the video was posted, head coach Wade Phillips and receiver Sam Hurd were asked if Romo knew it was fourth down. Both said that he did.
“He always knows the down, distance and time,” Crayton said. “He lets us know once he comes into the huddle and he did that.”
But of course, those that want to believe bad things will dismiss this and would dismiss visual evidence should any exist. People believe what they want to believe. Florio makes unfounded accusations as statements of fact and the haters suck it down.
I do like the ‘I don’t have a clue how things work, but I don’t think it works that way so Romo & the Cowboys are lying’.
Breaking new journalistic ground here. Now you can simply make something up, claim ignorance about how it actually works, and STILL make an accusation based on how it works.
Now we can get reporting like this, “The particle physicists at CERN are stupid for saying the particle accelerator won’t create mini-black holes. I don’t have a clue how the particle accelerator in CERN works, but I know it may not work the way the particle physicists say it does, so they are lying about the mini-black holes that may be created and the CERN staff would say that to cover up the stupidity of the particle physicists.”

Why on earth would a team officially announce that their QB was confused by a errant sideline down marker when it had no impact on the Cowboys loss.
Bring Jessica back Tony was a better QB with her around. He must be suffering from a lack of sex 🙂 lol

Oh, well if they issued a written statement. That’s proof that Gomer Romo knew it was 4th down.
The real question is: did Sgt. Carter know?
And why is Lou-Ann Poovie never at the games, cherring Gomer on?

I wouldn’t say that Tony Romo is stupid but..
When he found out that his 40 million dollar winning lottery would only dole out 2 million a year for 20 years instead of all at once, he got pissed and demanded his dollar back.

Jessica Simpson broke up with Tony because she goes for men with more inteligence than him. That alone should tell you all you need to know about Romo’s brains.
As far as smarts, Tony fits right in with the management team in Dallas. They think the ‘boys are a great team. Sh-h-h, don’t remind them that they last won a playoff game when Clinton was starting his second term! What do they have between their ears? Kidneys, man, pure kidneys.

Vox:
“See, this is what’s wrong with the media today. You guys cook stuff up in your head and ask questions about it, and you refuse to accept any answer but the answer that you cooked up in your head. I notice that you take a lot of trips. You must get awfully lonely. Have you ever gone to a scrip club when you’re on the road, Florio? Nevermind, I already know the answer and there’s no motivation for you to be truthful about it.
See what I mean? We get it. You think Romo’s a passionless idiot that doesn’t care about anything but celebrity poon and golf. I appreciate the fact that you addressed this at all, though. I think it was kind of retarded to bring it up in the first place, like I said before it’s not like he threw the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack or spiked the ball to stop the clock. He ran the play that was called.”
****
I have to agree with you here. Florio and the other media (especially Sal Pal) do this all of the time with McNabb.

Except if you watch the video Romo is trying to get his guys to the line BEFORE he holds up his three fingers. Not to mention the fact the Denver players were celebrating, the idea of an error makes him almost seem dumber.

We’re not 100-percent sure how an official NFL down marker works, but we doubt that the shift from “4” to “1” requires the user of the marker to manually cycle back through “3” and “2”.
****
Seriously, I would think that anyone who has ever been to a football game or watches on TV has seen the numbers flick down… Why post this comment when you could research it for a few minutes? Just to rile the Cowboys fans up? They get mad at Florio and do not get mad at the guy running their franchise into the ground and making them more and more of the laughing stock of the NFL everyday.

@# VoxVeritas says: October 6, 2009 11:34 PM
“As it turns out, quarterback Tony Romo might not be as dumb as he looks.”
Cheap. Could you be as gay as you look?”
You mean like this?
Talk about gay. You look like a gay Joe Dirt.

Wow….Florio is one to talk….Talk about “dumb as he looks” Florio must have forgotten 2 look in the mirror this a.m.! Not only is Florio pretty dumb looking himself but he has an accute case of “little man” syndrome. It stems from Florio not being tall enough to get on most of the rides at Disney World last week. Dude needs to grow up a get a life…..

VOX: Mr. Profootballblog Commentator….. “Have you ever gone to a scrip club when you’re on the road, Florio? ”
A Scrip Club?? C’mon King of Grammar! Just cus’ Romo is exposed for what he really is does not mean that school should stop!
Also….if this is really you…..http://www.myspace.com/warlock978 Mr. Warlock978…..I take back every comment i ever said…..I didn’t realize I was making fun of a level 3 dungeon master! LOSER!

This is such a non-story I cannot believe how much discussion there has been. if you wanna talk about the Cowboys, there’s only one real story- Shanahan or Holmgren??????
I love this site. it’s not the news and scoops but there great. it’s the entertainment of reading the comments
Go Redskins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!